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Red X
The persona known as "Red X" was originally a faux identity by Robin, meant to disguise himself in an attempt to get close to Slade. After this plan failed, the Red X suit was locked inside the vault in Titans' Tower, never to be seen or heard from again, because the suit itself was extremely dangerous. Of course, that didn't last. In the middle of the night, a thief managed to infiltrate the vault mostly undetected, stole the suit, and wore it (see: this episode). The thief easily defeated the Titans when they caught up to him, Robin angrily demanding to know who the masked thief was, with the older teen simply responding with "If I wanted you to know that, would I be wearing a mask?" After easily defeating his pursuers, the thief teleported away, mocking Robin by wishing him 'better luck next time.' This lead to a rampant speculation as to who the new Red X was, due to the fact that Robin was standing right there. He would haunt Robin for the remainder of the episode, strangely showing up just as Robin was blaming himself for Red X's existence. The thief would easily infiltrate a large, vaulted facility, with the Titans in pursuit; he was after xenothium, the fuel for the suit, which also happened to be a highly unstable, radioactive material. While Robin chased after the thief, the remainder of the Titans were abducted, one by one, by Professor Chang, a supervillain who was after the xenothium to build a nuclear laser-weapon thing. Red X would get what he wants, and left Robin to realize that the remainder of his team was captured. Robin, knowing he couldn't rescue his friends alone, went after Red X, demanding his help while confronting him about his self-serving attitude. Red X simply taunted Robin about being the manifestation of Robin's own selfish need to go after Slade, and referred to himself as Robin's 'own mistake.' He added that he 'didn't enjoy playing the big villain,' and that he was a 'thief' who could care less about 'playing the hero.' Promising to return to throw Red X in jail, Robin left. The thief, however, did manage to show up just as Robin was losing the fight against Chang and his minions. Robin, while undoubtedly pleased to see the help, noted that Red X had said he didn't like playing the hero, while the thief replied that it 'didn't mean that he doesn't know how.' The two of them easily deal with Chang's minions and free the remaining Titans, while Robin stole Red X's belt, the power source of his suit. Despite this, Red X evades them, and reappears later in the series with a whole new one, one he apparently built for himself. While Red X did have a cameo appearance as joining the Brotherhood of Evil, he ends up betraying them all in another episode known as "Revved Up." Robin was forced to participate in a race run by "Ding Dong Daddy" (an extremely stupid name for a supervillain), against a large amount of the Titans' enemies in order for Robin to reclaim his most prized possession. Towards the middle of the race, Red X appears and passes Robin up, much to Robin's own surprise (as Red X wasn't even in the beginning of the episode). A bomb dropped by DDD blew Red X off the road, but Red X was saved by Robin. Somewhat surprised, Red X simply asked how much the race meant to Robin, to which Robin replied "everything." Red X nodded, and leaped off Robin's bike, and promptly destroyed the vehicles of virtually everyone else in the race. Red X quipped that they were now even, and vanished as quickly as he arrived. He did not appear in in the final showdown with the Brotherhood of Evil, implying he quit the organization to pursue his own interests. He hasn't been seen or heard from since. Canon Information Abilities/Powers: Red X is strictly human with no fancy, supernatural powers; albeit a human in absolute peak physical condition. He has shown near-perfect skill in martial arts, able to go toe-to-toe with Robin and the other Titans and emerge victorious. He apparently is also highly skilled and uncanny understanding of exotic technology, as he was able to operate the Red X suit (a highly complex combat suit full of advanced technology) with no (known) prior experience with it. In fact, one might even be able to say his use of the suit's technology was even more creative and effective than Robin's use of it, which is interesting, consider the suit was designed by Robin. Red X is also an expert thief, having broken into the Titans' Tower completely undetected, and stole the suit for himself as if Robin had left the vault wide open. He then escaped after having taken down all five of the Titans in record time. It is unknown exactly where Red X gained his training. Despite boundless speculation by fans, nothing has ever been officially confirmed, and it is unlikely that anything ever will be. What is known is that Red X's fighting style (an emphasis on overwhelming speed and finesse rather than raw power) is almost identical to that of Robin's, albeit slightly more aggressive. The Red X suit is a combat/infiltration suit run entirely by xenothium, an unstable (and possibly radioactive) material that can take any form; including energy. With two X-shaped spots on the palms of his hands (as well as on the backs of his wrists), Red X has been able to generate explosives, lasers, elastic-adhesive restraints, and even physics-defying 'splitters' that allow him to pass through solid matter through an X-shaped opening, that promptly closes back up after a few seconds. With his belt, he has also been able to render himself completely invisible to the naked eye (as well as most detection devices; infrared will still detect him, however), as well as containing a short-range teleportation device. Xenothium is a finite source of energy, however; occasionally, he will need to replace his depleted xenothium cartridge with another. It is unknown exactly how fast the suit uses it up, however. Strength: Red X is a master of hand-to-hand combat, and appears to be fluent with most forms of weaponry. Though he's never been seen using firearms, his skill in martial arts is top-notch, and he's able to perform acrobatic feats that would put most Olympic gymnasts to shame. He also has a strange, uncanny talent for exotic technology, and is likely a skilled computer hacker as well. Weakness: Besides his skill as a fighter, Red X has no supernatural powers to speak of. He is also human; he requires food, water, rest, and clean environments, as he can become susceptible to fatigue, disease, starvation, and dehydration as much as any other human being can. If he were ever to become seriously injured, he'd need time to recover as well. Personality: Red X is meant to serve as a foil to Robin in the series. While Robin is dutiful, generally selfless with a fairly bad temper, Red X is aloof, selfish, and concerned only with himself. While it is certainly a stretch to call Red X a true villain, his self-centered motivations and "for the lulz" mindset immediately disqualifies him as anything other than an anti-hero at best. While Robin used the Red X suit to conceal his identity and attempt to get close to Slade, the new Red X comes off as a kid taking a fancy piece of technology out for a joyride. That is not to say that Red X is the equivalent of some sociopathic child playing with a bomb; he summed it up quite nicely with his memorable quote: "Not everybody likes to play the big villain, kid. I'm a thief. I'm not threatening your precious city. Just looking out for number one." In other words, rather than becoming drunk with power with the imagination-is-the-limit abilities the suit grants to its wearer, he's more like your typical teenager getting his kicks when he is suddenly beyond the reach of the law. He openly says that he "doesn't like to play the hero," finding heroics boring. However, he has occasionally shown that he has a conscience, most notably when he helped Robin save the rest of his team from Chang. However, it was obvious that the entire time, he had an ulterior motive, which was to get his hands on more xenothium. Whether or not the fact that he made an effort to save the other Titans excuses this is beyond the point. It is clear that, to some degree, Red X does indeed have a conscience, for if Chang had his way, he would have created a weapon capable of destroying the entire city. This would suggest that if there was a clear and present threat that people were in fact going to die, he would put his selfish nature aside and help out. Beyond that, though, he isn't the type to help old ladies across the street or save kittens from trees. Red X appears to enjoy picking on Robin. Throughout the entire episode of "X", he would appear whenever Robin was blaming himself for Red X's existence and drive that fact in even harder, and even notably (and shamelessly) hit on Starfire while he had her pinned to the wall. Whether he was simply doing this to spite Robin or if he actually shares the same interest in girls as he does - which would be yet another comparable foil to his personality - is anyone's guess. However, given Red X's indulgent personality, it wouldn't be too shocking if he's also the type to generally be creepy and hit on girls just for his own amusement. His own hedonistic nature would certainly imply that he wouldn't be above a sexual relationship, either, though whether or not he would be considered 'quality boyfriend material' is another issue entirely. Extra: He's heterosexual. Vertiline Deaths: Punishments: Relationships Other Stuff, Links App Category:Active Category:Characters Category:Called Category:Fandom Category:Teen Titans